CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets have rebounded on Tuesday from early losses, as a rise in U.S. stock index futures during Asian trades helped soothe investor sentiment and ignore further falls on China's stock market.
The Chinese market slumped more than 6 percent in early trades, but has also pared early losses. Concerns over slowing growth in China had spurred panic selling across the Asian region on Monday, prompting many to term it 'Black Monday'.
The Australian market climbed into positive territory, after opening lower following the weak global cues and weak commodity prices amid growing worries about a slowdown in China's economy.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index is adding 59.00 points or 1.18 percent to 5,060.30, after opening lower and falling to 4,928.30 in early trades. The broader All Ordinaries Index is advancing 51.30 points or 1.02 percent to 5,065.50. The market had experienced its worst one-day drop in more than six years on Monday.
Among the big miners, BHP Billiton (BHP) is declining more than 1 percent ahead of the release of its full-year financial results later in the day, while Rio Tinto (RIO) is adding 0.7 percent and Fortescue Metals is gaining more than 2 percent.
Gold miners Newcrest Mining and Kingsgate Consolidated are declining more than 2 percent after gold prices snapped a three-day gain to end lower overnight.
In the oil sector, Oil Search is down almost 2 percent, Woodside Petroleum is losing 0.8 percent and Santos is down more than 3 percent following the plunge in crude oil prices overnight.
The big four banks are mixed. ANZ Banking is declining 0.2 percent and National Australia Bank is edging down 0.07 percent, while Westpac (WBK) is adding 0.3 percent and Commonwealth Bank is advancing 0.2 percent.
oOh!Media reported a profit for the first half of the year that more than doubled and also forecast long-term growth. Shares of the outdoor and digital advertising group are gaining more than 1 percent.
Scentre Group said it has sold four shopping centers in Australia for more than A$780 million and maintained its outlook for full-year funds from operations. The company's shares are up 0.4 percent.
Pacific Brands, owner of the Bonds and Sheridan brands, reported a narrower loss for the year, though results were impacted by one-off writedowns. The company's shares are gaining more than 11 percent.
Amcor's shares are gaining almost 4 percent after the packaging company's full-year profit rose 35 percent from last year, when results were impacted by the cost of demerging its Australasian business.
IVF group Virtus Health's shares are rising almost 14 percent after it reported a 5 percent increase in underlying earnings for the full-year, in line with its guidance for mid-single digit growth.
On the economic front, the latest survey from the Conference Board showed that a leading economic index for Australia turned lower again in June, slipping 0.2 percent. That follows the 0.2 percent increase in May.
The coincident index added 0.2 percent in June, unchanged from the previous month following a downward revision from 0.3 percent in May. Taken together, the recent behavior of the composite indexes suggests that the current economic expansion should continue in the near term.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar hit a new six-year low against the U.S. dollar overnight following the rout in stock markets. In early trades Tuesday, the local unit was trading at US$0.7157, down from Monday's close of US$0.7236.
The Japanese market also rebounded, after tumbling in early trades with the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index falling below the 18,000 mark for the first time in more than six months.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index is gaining 204.22 points or 1.10 percent to 18,744.90, after opening lower and sliding to 17,747.50 in early trades. Banks and exporters are advancing.
The major exporters are mostly higher. Sony Corp. (SNE) is gaining more than 3 percent, Toshiba is advancing almost 3 percent and Panasonic is adding more than 1 percent, while Canon is losing more than 1 percent. Market heavyweight Fast Retailing is losing almost 2 percent.
In the tech sectors, Fanuc is adding 0.2 percent and Tokyo Electron is gaining almost 4 percent. Automaker Toyota is adding 0.7 percent, while Honda (HMC) is declining almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Motors is down more than 4 percent.
Toyota will suspend production of its Prius hybrid vehicles in Thailand from September for an indefinite period, due to slowing sales and tariff-related disputes with local authorities.
In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MTU) is rising 4 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining more than 2 percent and Mizuho Financial (MFG) is advancing more than 3 percent.
Among oil stocks, Inpex is adding 0.2 percent, while JX Holdings is down more than 1 percent each.
Among the other major gainers, Alps Electric is rising more than 6 percent and Sumco Corp. is gaining almost 5 percent. On the flip side, Sapporo Holdings is declining almost 6 percent and Asahi Group is losing more than 3 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the upper 118 yen-range on Tuesday after plunging to a seven-month low overnight as investors rushed to buy the safe-haven yen. In late-morning trades, the dollar was quoted in a range of 118.87-118.93 yen, compared to Monday's close in the range of 120-40-120.41 yen in Tokyo.
Elsewhere in the region, Shanghai is down almost 4 percent and New Zealand is marginally lower. Meanwhile, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia are in positive territory.
On Wall Street, stocks suffered their worst session in four years on Monday, with markets spooked by concerns about the global economy and the prospect of interest rate hikes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 588.47 points, or 3.6 percent to 15,871.28. At one point, the Dow was down nearly 1,000 points, but bargain hunters swooped in for a brief rally in the late morning.
The Nasdaq Composite ended the day down 179.79 points or 3.8 percent at 4,526.25 and the S&P 500 fell 77.65 points or 3.9 percent to 1,893.24, the lowest level since October 2014.
The European markets ended Monday with sharp losses, as continued concerns over China sparked the largest one-day decline in the Eurozone in several years. The drop in the German stock market brought the DAX into bear market territory.
The DAX of Germany declined by 4.70 percent, the CAC 40 of France fell by 5.35 percent and the FTSE of the U.K. dropped by 4.67 percent.
U.S. crude oil plunged to end at fresh 6-1/2-year lows on Monday, as global equity markets were caught in a turmoil with a massive sell-off after another collapse in Chinese equities amid mounting concerns over the global economy.
Crude oil futures for October delivery, the most actively traded contract, plummeted $2.21 or 5.5 percent to settle at $38.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday. The last time crude prices settled below $39 was in February 2009.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX